Little Lily
by WonderlandInvader
Summary: One year after Lily Potter's death, Severus Snape is moping around Hogsmeade when he makes a new friend...  Oneshot...pointless fluff...the usual


It had been almost a year since that night, the night Lily Potter and her husband had been found dead, but Severus Snape still hadn't gotten over it. She had once been his best (_and only_) friend, and even after an awful falling-out, he still loved her…he always had…always would.

His usual gloomy, mad-at-the-world-for-a-good-reason demeanor had gotten worse since he discovered her lifeless body lying in front of her son's crib, and not a person at Hogwarts had been able to console him. He wouldn't let anyone close enough… He didn't want to forget what happened to her…he wanted revenge on Voldemort.

Everyone who knew him knew that he would never smile again after that night…

Or so they thought…

It was a blustery, cold winter day in the tiny village of Hogsmeade, but Severus didn't mind. He much preferred the chill of the wind to the warmth inside the castle walls. It suited his personality better.

He found a somewhat comfortable seat on the edge of the fountain in the town's center and watched the snowflakes fall. Snape just needed some time alone, away from the students and other staff members, some time to reminisce about better times.

Little did he know, he was being watched by a pair of innocently curious, jade green eyes…

"Hi." a tiny voice piped up from his left. He whirled around to discover the source of the greeting was a small girl. She looked about six or seven, she had chin-length honey-blonde hair, and the palest green eyes he'd ever seen. Her round cheeks were dotted with freckles, and were rosy from the nippy wind. When she smiled, he noticed that two of her front teeth were missing, "You look lonely…mind if I sit with you?" the little girl tipped her head to the side, indicating the spot beside him.

Snape nodded surprised that such a young child would just come up to him, because even he would admit, he wasn't the most friendly-looking guy in the world, "Uh…sure. I don't mind."

She tilted her head the opposite way as she scooted closer to him, "What's wrong? You look like you've lost your best friend!"

He sighed, his head hung low, "I did…"

The child gasped, "Oh! That's _**terrible**_! What happened?"

"It's a long story…"

She crossed her legs, inching closer to the professor, "I've got time."

Snape swallowed back the tears, "Well, we had been friends since…well, forever…and then we started going to this school together…" he began.

"Hogwarts?"

"H-how do you know about Hogwarts?" he raised an eyebrow.

She grinned again, "My cousin goes there. He's in Slytherin House." her eyes narrowed suspiciously, "You wouldn't be Professor Snape, would you?"

He nodded.

"I thought so…my cousin has told me all about you! Potions is his favorite class." she beamed sweetly.

_Can't imagine why…_Snape thought to himself, "Well, anyhow, my friend got sorted into Gryffindor, and she met this boy named…" he spat the name onto the ground, "_**James Potter**_…and since _I _got put into Slytherin, I didn't get to see her much. Then…" he paused, unsure if he could go on.

"Did you get in a fight with her because of that _**James **_boy?" she scrunched her nose up when she said James's name, like she'd smelled something awful.

"Yes…"

"What happened after that?"

Snape sniffled, "She never spoke to me again…and the two of them got married a few years later, and had a baby boy." he sighed, "_Then_…last year they…she…she was killed…" his heart plunged to rock-bottom, and he remembered how much it hurt to talk about the love he lost.

The little girl's eyes welled up with tears, "Oh my gosh…I'm so sorry." she threw her tiny arms around his neck, wrapping him in a much-needed hug.

Not expecting such a reaction, it took him a minute to embrace her back, as he had almost forgotten how to, "It…it's ok." he smoothed some of her hair down, brushing it behind her ear.

She wiped some of the tears away with her sleeve, "Wh-what was her name?" her head still laid on his shoulder.

"_Lily_…" Severus whispered, "_Lily Evans…_"

She suddenly raised up, "Hey! Lily is my name too!" she cried out, "Not Lily Evans though…I'm Lily Monroe."

_What are the odds? _Snape almost gasped aloud, but his brown eyes only widened, "Really? Now isn't that interesting!" he kind of chuckled. Little Lily nodded.

They sat like that for some time; she told him stories about her and her best friend Jonathan, and he told her stories about him and Lily when they were children.

She told him about the few times that she and Jonathan had argued in their young lives, and Snape warned her about the power of words spoken out of anger. Severus knew from experience that saying the wrong thing to your best friend, whether you meant it or not, could cost you dearly in the end.

He made her promise that she'd never let what happen between him and Lily Evans happen to her and Jonathan…he made her promise that they wouldn't abandon each other over anything petty or trivial.

"I pinky-promise that me and Jonathan will be best friends forever, no matter what!" she wrapped her tiny finger around his, locking in the oath.

"_**And**_…" he added, their fingers still twined together, "when you get older, and you can understand what I'm about to ask you a little better, if he loves you as more than a sister or friend…"

"You mean like a _girl_friend?" she scrunched up her nose again.

"Yes, as a _girl_friend…" Snape snickered at her repulsed expression.

"Ew! But I don't want a _boy_friend! Boys have _cooties!_"

He rolled his eyes, thinking of the whispers and giggles he often overheard from the teenage girls at Hogwarts around Valentine's Day, or whenever there was a large group of Quidditch boys nearby, "Trust me, you won't think they have cooties when you get older. Just…don't break his heart, ok?"

Lily smiled a toothy grin, "Well…ok! I won't!" she vowed.

Before their conversation could resume, her mother called from the doorway of the shop she was exiting, and Lily had to leave. She bid him goodbye with a quick kiss on the tip of his nose before running to catch up with her mom, waving back at him as they trod off in the snow toward their home in the next village.

Snape decided that he should leave as well, and started back toward the school with the nagging notion that somehow, someway, the Lily he'd grown up with had brought this little girl to him to prove there was still some good in the world, even though she herself was gone. He felt slightly warmer on the inside, not warm enough, however, to destroy the iciness completely…but it was a start.

At least he was smiling for now…


End file.
